Highlights
- Stress and anxiety are often talked about interchangeably, but there are important differences.
- Stress happens when you’re dealing with an immediate challenge, while anxiety is more often caused by internal causes and can continue even when nothing stressful is happening around you.
- Shared symptoms — like trouble sleeping, irritability, and physical sensations — make the two easy to mix up, but anxiety lasts longer and often affects daily functioning.
- Short-term stress usually improves on its own, but anxiety can transform into a mental health condition. Getting professional care can help you feel more in control of your life.
Many people use the terms stress and anxiety interchangeably. That’s because the two share many symptoms and can even result from similar causes. But they are not the same thing. It’s important to understand the difference between stress and anxiety, because the way they’re addressed can be different.
In this article, we’ll lay out the differences between stress and anxiety and how to tell which you’re going through.
What Is Stress?
Everyone experiences stress sometimes, and that’s not a bad thing. It is a natural physical response that happens when you’re facing threatening, scary, or challenging things (often called stressors). So, stress is what happens when the stressors you face overwhelm your ability to cope.
Stress isn’t just a mental reaction. It starts in your nervous system and leads to involuntary changes throughout your body. The
The stress response evolved in humans to help us fight or flee from danger. When you’re under stress, be the stressor real or imagined, your nervous system releases hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones give you the energy to face danger but also cause unpleasant symptoms, such as:
- Increased heart rate (getting more blood flow to your muscles)
- Faster breathing, which gets more oxygen to your brain
- Sharper senses
Cortisol also triggers the liver to produce more glucose, which can give you even more energy.
Types of Stress
There are different types of stress, and some can cause problems for your health:
- Acute stress is a short-term reaction that comes on when you’re facing an immediate stressor or threat. An example is when you narrowly escape a car accident. It goes away once the immediate stressor has passed.
- Chronic stress sticks around. It often happens when the stressor never goes away (like being in an abusive relationship, living with chronic pain, or working in a demanding job). Many of us experience chronic stress; for example, we might worry constantly about finances.
- Episodic acute stress is when you experience an acute stress response on such a regular basis that your body never gets the chance to return to its normal state. The stress is not constant (or chronic), but the next spike comes on before you’ve fully recovered from the last one.
Acute stress is actually needed and appropriate for many everyday situations. For example, being stressed about an exam might give you the energy to focus and study. Feeling this type of stress isn’t typically harmful.
But experiencing chronic stress (and, to a lesser extent, episodic acute stress) can have much more serious and long-lasting effects on your overall health. Your body isn’t designed to have its stress response activated all the time, and chronic stress has been linked to long-term health problems, from
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety can feel like stress, but they’re not the same thing.
The term “anxiety” can refer to both an emotion and a type of mental health condition. Most of us have felt anxious at some point. The feeling could also be described as worried, restless, impatient, or uneasy. For example, you might feel anxious before a first date.
But for many people, the feeling of anxiety becomes a clinical mental health condition. Anxiety disorders affect
There are different types of anxiety disorders, including:
Anxiety disorders are characterized by severe fear or worry that is typically disproportionate to whatever is triggering them. Many people with anxiety experience symptoms with no external trigger at all. Everything could be “fine,” but they still can’t stop their minds from worrying.
The
Shared Symptoms
The reason why people so often confuse anxiety and stress is because they have many shared symptoms, especially physical ones. In the moment, it can be hard to tell whether these symptoms are a result of clinical anxiety or if you’re just under a lot of stress — or if it’s both.
Some of the shared symptoms of stress and anxiety include:
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability
- Fatigue or excessive tiredness
- Physical symptoms, including sweating, fast heartbeat, tremors, etc. (these are especially common during panic attacks)
- Difficulty sleeping
- Changes in appetite and gastrointestinal issues
- Musculoskeletal tension and pain
What Is the Difference Between Stress and Anxiety?
But there are important differences between stress and anxiety:
- Triggers. The biggest difference is that stress is a reaction to an immediate external stressor, while anxiety is more often internal. Stress occurs when a tangible threat is happening or is about to happen. For example, when you’re arguing with your partner or are overwhelmed with deadlines at work. Anxiety often happens even in the absence of any external stressor. For example, you might experience anxiety about getting fired from your job, even if there’s no objective evidence showing that you’re at risk.
- Duration. Stress tends to go away (or at least lessen) when the immediate stressor has passed. For example, you feel under stress about a presentation but relax when it’s over. If you live with an anxiety disorder, your symptoms may remain.
- Your Focus. Stress often makes you focus on current challenges in your life. For example, you might be stressed because you’re behind at work. Anxiety, on the other hand, often centers around worries about the future — potential scenarios of what could go wrong (not necessarily what already is). You might have “what-if” thoughts, like “What if everyone laughs at me?”
- Effects. Stress, especially acute stress, can have positive outcomes, like motivating you to work harder to meet your deadline. Anxiety is a feeling of persistent worrying that can evolve into a mental health condition that requires treatment. It almost always has negative outcomes that complicate your life.
- Treatment Needs. Stress doesn’t usually require mental health treatment (although therapy can be helpful for learning how to manage it). Anxiety does.
Stress is an evolutionary physiological reaction; it’s how your body has evolved to respond to danger and threats. Anxiety is an internal emotional experience that’s often based on how you respond to the stress in your life. It usually comes from how you’re thinking about potential stressors.
|
Stress |
Anxiety |
|
|
Trigger |
Triggered by external, clear stressor |
Caused by a combination of internal and external risk factors. There may not be an obvious external stressor |
|
Duration |
Often temporary; goes away when stressor ends |
Everyday anxiety can last minutes to hours, but may also persist beyond the situation. An anxiety disorder is often diagnosed when anxiety is experienced for 6 months or more |
|
Focus |
You are focused on present challenges and threats |
You are focused on the future and potential worst-case scenarios (“what if”) |
|
Symptoms |
Symptoms include gastrointestinal issues, irritability, physical symptoms like shaking, difficulty sleeping |
Symptoms differ based on specific condition, but can include excessive and persistent worrying, excessive fear, irritability, physical symptoms (including gastrointestinal issues), difficulty sleeping |
|
Impact on daily functioning |
Acute stress is sometimes helpful for improved focus and alertness. Chronic stress can have serious consequences for health. People are often able to manage stress without treatment |
Frequent or persistent anxiety can cause significant impairment in work, school, or relationships; requires treatment |
How Stress and Anxiety Are Connected
Although there are important differences, anxiety and stress are linked in such deep and interwoven ways that it may be hard to entirely separate them from each other. Stress, especially chronic stress, is a known risk factor for developing an anxiety disorder. And living with an anxiety disorder can significantly increase your stress load.
Stress and anxiety also
The same factors can also lead to stress and anxiety, and many people live with both. For example, if you’ve recently gone through a divorce or breakup, you might experience stress about things like moving, finances, legal issues, etc. But you might also develop an anxiety disorder about future uncertainties, especially if you don’t manage the stress when it comes up.
Is It Stress or Anxiety? How to Tell the Difference
- Is there a clear trigger? Would this trigger make most people feel the same way?
- Yes: Likely stress
- No: Likely anxiety
- Does it fade when the situation ends?
- Yes: Likely stress
- No: Likely anxiety
- Is it future “what if” thinking?
- Yes: Likely anxiety
- No: Could be anxiety or stress
- Is sleep, work, or relationships affected?
- Yes: Could indicate anxiety or chronic stress
- No: More consistent with normal stress
- Are you avoiding situations that make you feel this way?
- Yes: Common in anxiety
- No: More typical in stress
Managing and Treating Stress vs. Anxiety
There are ways to manage stress and anxiety on your own. And stress, especially when it’s short-term and not getting in the way of your daily life, often doesn’t require professional support. However, note that if your symptoms persist, it’s important to see a healthcare provider, you can also conveniently get anxiety treatment online.
Fast Relief
If you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed in the moment, there are strategies you can use to quickly calm your body. These strategies engage your nervous system’s relaxation response.
- Deep, diaphragmatic breathing can get your body to slow down. During the stress response, your body starts to take quick, shallow breaths for more oxygen. Intentionally taking slow, deep breaths can physically counteract this response.
- Progressive muscle relaxation
has been shown[7] to reduce stress. Slowly clench and then release each muscle group, moving through your body. This can help you sleep as well. - Grounding activities, like the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, can reconnect you to the present moment when you’re getting lost in worries. It can also reconnect you with your body, which is especially helpful if you’re experiencing derealization/depersonalization (common during stress and anxiety).
- Engaging in quick bursts of exercise can distract your mind and release relaxing chemicals in your brain to counteract anxiety. For example, try taking a sprint around the block.
Daily Habits for Long-Term Management of Stress and Anxiety
You can also implement strategies into your daily life that prevent stress and anxiety from becoming unmanageable:
- Stay connected to loved ones, even when stress and anxiety make you want to withdraw. Talking to someone you trust can help you feel less alone.
- Get regular exercise. Exercise
has been proven[8] to significantly reduce stress, and it can also reduce the chances of developing anxiety and depression. - Be intentional about what you’re eating and drinking. Stimulants like caffeine, as well as alcohol and other substances, can make stress and anxiety much worse.
- Notice and manage triggers. Know what situations tend to stress you out. Avoiding triggers may not always be the best idea (and can sometimes make anxiety worse). But being prepared for triggers can help you deal with them.
Professional Support
If you live with an anxiety disorder, then professional treatment can help. Anxiety is a chronic mental health condition. It doesn’t have a “cure,” but several treatments have been shown to significantly reduce symptoms.
- Therapy gives you a safe space to address any root causes of your anxiety, like past traumatic events. Your therapist can help you learn new strategies to manage anxiety symptoms. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is usually considered
the most effective therapy type for anxiety[9] , although there are many other options. - Medication can also help. Antidepressant medications are usually the first choice for anxiety disorders. Some people may also benefit from anti-anxiety medications, but many of these should only be used short-term because of their side effects and risks.
When to Seek Help
Many people are able to navigate stressful situations without seeking professional treatment. But it’s important to recognize when you do need more support. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, and mental health care can go a long way in preventing stress and anxiety from becoming worse.
See a healthcare provider if:
- Your stress and/or anxiety levels are so severe that they’re getting in the way of your daily life. For example, you find it hard to go to work because you feel so overwhelmed.
- Stress and anxiety are leading you to unsafe situations. For example, you’re having panic attacks while driving.
- Stress and anxiety are starting to negatively affect your relationships.
- You’re experiencing physical symptoms of stress, like gastrointestinal issues. It’s also important to rule out other causes for these symptoms.
- You’ve felt like this for several months, and it hasn’t gotten better.
But you also don’t need to wait until things turn into a crisis to seek care. Even if your stress/anxiety isn’t severe, you can still benefit from support. A therapist can help you learn new ways to manage this and address the root causes. It’s important to get support to prevent stress from becoming worse. Failure to seek treatment can lead to complications like depression and other mental health conditions.
Summing Up
Most people confuse anxiety vs. stress because of similarities in symptoms and causes. The key difference between the two is that stress is your body’s response to threats, while anxiety is a mental health condition that causes excessive and disproportionate worries. Each can tie into the other.
It’s natural to experience stress or anxiety from time to time. But both of them can be very upsetting and hard to live with if they happen often. If you experience stress or anxiety that affect your daily functioning, consider seeking mental health support to feel like yourself again.
FAQs
Is stress and anxiety the same thing?
Is anxiety a form of stress?
No. Anxiety is a separate experience and a mental health condition. But often, it’s related to stress, and research shows that stress is a significant risk factor for anxiety.
What are the similarities between stress and anxiety?
Stress and anxiety can both cause worries, physical symptoms (like gastrointestinal issues or muscle pain), trouble sleeping, irritability, and more.
What's worse, anxiety or stress?
Can stress turn into anxiety?
Yes. For many people, stress (especially chronic or traumatic stress) is a significant risk factor for anxiety. Especially if you don’t deal with it, stress can sometimes worsen and lead to anxiety.
